grow is a verb!

greenhouse

A collaboration of two Non-Profit Charities with a Single Mission. Adopted by the Foster Parent Association of Washington State. Supported by the National Foster Parent Association. Located at Dyslin Ranch- a hub for services provided to young people for 85 years. 

Washington state's oldest charity and its foundation are expanding the use of the Jessie Dyslin Ranch property in order to put more youth and families to work, improve the security of the local food network, establish healthy kids programs to combat childhood obesity and provide a model for preservation and restoration of urban farm land and food production.

If you or someone you know are interested in becoming an apprentice in the greenhouse program, you may download an application form and submit it by fax or mail. Please send us a message, using our contact form link, to let us know of your interest, and we will contact you to schedule an admission interview. Part 1 of the application form can be downloaded HERE. You can find a link to Parts 2 through 9 on our blog.

Major Elements of the Project

Provide a jobs training program for Transitional Age Youth (TAYs) that Works!

Create a national model design for TAYs in conjunction with State & National Foster Parent Associations

Create new permanent green jobs

Improve security of the local food network

Establish two key components of the healthy kids programs to combat childhood obesity

Provide a model for preservation and restoration of urban farm land and local food production

Furnish hands-on training in a variety of agribusiness or green related jobs

Provide job placement assistance in a livable wage job market

Link grower programs, farm-to-market programs, farm to school programs, nutrition and community food programs

greenhouse: An Evidence Based Youth Developement Program

greenhouse is a transitional age youth development program utilizing an evidenced-based curriculum produced by the greenhouse national task force. The work of the task force is coordinated primarily by Board members of the National Foster Parent Association, the Foster Parents Association of Washington State and supported by GATEWAYS, the Foundation and the Jesse Dyslin Ranch. Some of the kids who participate will come from Salishan and the Tacoma Housing Authority, but many will come through our connection to the Foster Parent Association of Washington State.

Let's Move Let's Grow Pilot Program

Farm to Fork is the agricultural program managed by the Foundation. This program works in conjunction with the greenhouse Pilot Program and serves as the hard skills training center for the pilot site. It fully meets the criteria for a greenhouse hard skills training centers, as it is centered exclusively on sustainable green technology, including agricultural and food production technologies, the use of alternative renewable energy resources, environmental conservation and sustainable community networks, healthy kids and nutrition education and hard job skills in emerging green job markets.

Job Training and Placement

SSTOPGAP (Social Service Tools Offering Personal Growth, Autonomy & Prosperity) is the job training and placement program managed jointly by the Foundation and GATEWAYS. In keeping with its history of teaching self-reliance and industry as a means to escape poverty, GATEWAYS for Youth & Families has adopted this social model as part of its family stabilization program. Underemployed populations need targeted recruitment and training to enter the job market. Providing training and employment opportunities for these populations, along with personal financial responsibility training has shown a remarkable and profound impact in family stabilization. Evidence in the youth development field supports the value of this approach for teens and young adults when it is coupled with a system of mentorship.

Childhood Obesity and Nutritional Education

We are beginning a program this year with the Tacoma Housing Authority Tenant Association. Better known as Salishan and the Hope VI Project, we are excited by the prospect of weekly supplying the residents of Salishan with fresh local "affordable" fruits, vegetables, berries and herbs. In return, the tenant association will encourage young people to be involved with the greenhouse program and will become a participant site for the nutritional education piece of that program.

The Puget Sound Food Network

The Jessie Dyslin Ranch is a satellite of the Puget Sound Food Processing Facilities Project. GATEWAYS for Youth and Families (GATEWAYS) and Gateways Foundation for Youth and Families (Foundation) are partnering with the Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC) and its effort to establish a regional processing center in Skagit County that will be used by local farms and related businesses to manufacture value-added products for market. In addition, they are establishing satellites in Pierce, Whatcom, and Jefferson counties. The three satellite facilities will source raw agricultural commodities from producers to sort, prepare, and pack, as well as for value-added processing. This product will be prepared to the specifications/requirements of local and regional retailer, restaurant, and institutional buyers. The satellite facilities will include commercial kitchens for product development and small-scale processing services.